Starting Again
by steampunkqueen2489
Summary: a woman named Abigail Lawrence, having been kicked out of her house in Carson City by her father after she wouldn't marry the man he had arranged for her to, she goes to Viginia City, hoping to start new there. she comes across the Cartwrights, and Adam asks Ben if she can stay at the Ponderosa, and Ben agrees.


()a woman named Abigail Lawrence, having been kicked out of her house in Carson City by her father after she wouldn't marry the man he had arranged for her to, she goes to Viginia City, hoping to start new there. she comes across the Cartwrights, and Adam asks Ben if she can stay at the Ponderosa, and Ben agrees.

She looked around the city. It was smaller than Carson City, but it also seemed more chaotic. She flipped her blond hair back over her shoulders as she took a close look at each building. She was carrying a small bag with some clothing and small amount of money. The truth was, she wasn't sure what she hoped to accomplish in Virginia City, but she had to go somewhere.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Are you looking for something?" someone asked. She turned to see a man, tall with dark hair and bright blue grey eyes.

"Oh, no, not really. Well, I was sort of hoping to find a hotel." she said.

"You're going to stay in a hotel? Aren't you with anyone?" the man asked.

"No. Just me. And, yes, I have no where else to stay. I just got into town." she said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Adam Cartwright." the man said, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Abigail Lawrence. Well, just Abbie." she said, shaking hands with the man, Adam Carwright.

"Well, Abbie. My family owns the Ponderosa ranch outside of town. It seems to me that you'd be a lot safer if you stayed with us at the Ponderosa instead of at a hotel by yourself. We can put you up in one of our guest rooms." Adam said.

"What? No, I couldn't." Abigail said.

"Really, it would be no trouble. Trust me, you'd be better off with us on the Ponderosa than in a hotel by yourself in this town." Adam said. Abigail thought about it for a moment. She wasn't extremely fond of the idea of staying with someone she didn't know, but, she could tell that this town was a bit rough, so she decided that it was probably the better option.

"Alright then, Adam. As long as your family doesn't mind." she said. She followed Adam over to where there was a horse tied.

"I've never ridden a horse before." she said.

"It's alright. I'll show you." Adam said. He lifted her and put her up on the horse, then, he got up into the horse.

"Just don't let go. Alright?" Adam said. Abigail nodded.

"Alright." she said. They rode until they reached what Abigail assumed to be the Ponderosa, the ranch that Adam had mentioned. He got down from the horse, then helped Abigail down. The land was beautiful, and there was a nice ranch house there. Adam led her into the ranchhouse. There were two young men, and a young woman sitting in the living area. One of the men was husky, and the other was younger looking, thin, with dark, wavy hair. The woman had dark, wavy hair, and dark brown eyes. She was sitting beside the younger, thin, wavy haired man.

"Adam, what are you bringing home strange women now?" the young, thin, man said, grinning. Adam just glared at the young man. Then, Adam looked at Abigail and said, "Abbie, this is my brothers, Hoss and Little Joe, and this is Joe's fiance, Libby Valentine. Joe, Hoss, Libby, this is Abigail Lawrence." Adam introduced. Hoss was the husky man, and Little Joe was the younger, thin, dark haired one. Elizabeth, of course, was the woman, the only woman in the room besides Abbie herself.

"Is pa around?" Adam asked.  
"Yeah, sure. I'll go get him." Little Joe said. He stood up and walked into the other room, entering the room again a moment later followed by an older man. Abbie assumed it to be the boys' father. Joe sat back down on the couch next to Libby again, and the older man approached Adam and Abbie.

"Adam, who's this you've got here?" the older man asked.

"My name is Abigail Lawrence." Abbie said, holding out her hand in greeting. The man shook hands with her.

"Ben Cartwright." he said.

"Pa, I wanted to ask you if it was alright with you if Abbie stayed here for a while. She just got into Virginia City, and she doesn't have a place to stay. She was going to go to a hotel, but I thought she would be better off here. Maybe she can help out around here or something." Adam said. Ben looked at his oldest son for a moment, then looked at Abbie, then he sighed.

"Alright, Adam. Miss Lawrence can stay here." he said. Adam smiled slightly.

"Hey, Hoss, look. I think Adam is blushing." Little Joe said, grinning.

"I am not." Adam said, sternly looking over at Joe.

"You might be right, Little Joe." Hoss said, grinning. Adam looked back at Abbie.

"Don't mind my brothers, Abbie. Come on, I'll show you to your room." he said.

"Alright." Abbie said, laughing slightly as she followed him down the hall, into a small room.

"Here it is." Adam said.

"It's cozy." she said, smiling as she set her bag on the floor.

"So, where are you from?" Adam asked.

"Carson City." she said.

"So, why did you leave Carson City just to go to Virginia City?" Adam asked, "Why not just stay in Carson City?"

"My father is a magician, not a very famous one, though. He doesn't make much money at his job. He was going to marry me off to a rich man, a man who struck it rich from prospecting. But, the man was foul. He didn't treat me well at all. He treated me like something he owned rather than a human being. He was scum. I refused to marry him, and my father threw me out of the house. He told me that if I wasn't going to marry that man he wanted me to marry, then I could just leave, and never come back. He didn't care about my well being. He knew that if I married the rich man, my father and I would never be poor again. So, I left the house, and I left town." Abbie said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You don't deserve to be treated that way." Adam said.

"Thank you. It's not that I never had good times with my father. I did, most of my life. But, when my father got that idea in his head about me marrying that man, there was nothing anyone could do to change his mind. All he could think about was the money, and it changed him." Abbie said.

"You don't have any other family?" Adam asked.

"My mother died when I was five years old. I have no other relatives." Abbie said, sitting down on the bed.

"I know how you feel. My mother died when I was young, too. My pa was married twice since to the mothers of my younger brothers." Adam said, sitting beside her on the bed.

"So, then you three are actually half brothers? Each of you has a different mother?" Abbie asked.

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to let you get settled in. If you need anything, just let me know. Alright?" Adam said, standing and beginning to walk away.

"Adam." Abigail said. He stopped and turned around to face her.

"Yes?" he said.

"Thank you." she said, smiling.

"It was my pleasure. I'll see you in a little while." Adam said before turning back around and walking out of the room.

Later, when Abbie had finished unpacking her things, she walked out into the living area. There was an Asian man there, talking to Ben.

"Mr. Cartwright, who that?" the Asian man said, pointing to Abbie. Adam walked over to her.

"Hop SIng, this is Abbie. She's going to be staying here with us. Abbie, this is Hop Sing. He's our cook." he said.

"What?! Another lady staying here? More work for Hop Sing!" the Asian man, Hop SIng, said, mumbling under his breath as he walked into another room.

"Where are you from, Abbie?" Ben asked as they sat at dinner that night.

"Carson City." Abbie answered.

"Ain't you got any folks or relatives there that miss you?" Hoss asked.

"Now, Hoss, I don't think you should..." Adam started to say.

"No. Adam, it's alright." Abbie said. Then, to the others, she said, "My mother got sick and died when I was five years old. My father is a magician, but he kicked me out of the house when I wouldn't marry the man he wanted me to. The man was rich, but he was scum. My father told me to get out and not come back unless I was willing to marry the man he wanted me to. So, I left town, and went to Virginia City."

"I see no problem with you making your own decisions. If you didn't feel this man was fit to marry, then you did the right thing." Ben said.

"Thank you, Mr. Cartwright." Abbie said.

"Just Ben. Please." Ben said.

"Her father is a magician? Well, she sure seems to have worked her magic on Adam, eh Hoss?" Little Joe said, grinning and elbowing Hoss. Hoss just grinned and shook his head, and Adam glared at Joe.

Abigail yawned and stretched as she lay there, looking out the window. She had been living on the Ponderosa with the Cartwrights for a couple of days, and so far, things were going pretty well. They were all very nice, but she had become especially close with Adam... She looked over at the door when she heard someone knocking.

"Hello." she said.

"Abbie, breakfast is ready, so you can come and eat whenever you're ready. Sorry to wake you."

She could hear Adam's voice from the other side of the door.

"Thank you, Adam. And, it's alright. You didn't wake me. I'll be there in a couple minutes." she answered. She got dressed and went out to the kitchen, joining the Cartwrights at the table for breakfast.

"Good morning, Abbie." Ben said.

"Good morning, Ben." Abbie said, then, looking at Adam, she said, "Good morning, Adam."

"Good morning, Abbie." Adam said, smiling. Smiling was not something Adam did often, but, on the occasions that he did, Abbie thought he had quite the nice smile.

"Adam, you're in an awfully good mood this morning." Ben said, grinning as he looked at his oldest son. Joe and Hoss grinned.

"So, pa, after breakfast, I was thinking of giving Abbie her first horseback riding lesson, if that's alright with her, of course." Adam said.

"I'll bet you were." Joe said, laughing. Hoss just grinned and shook his head.

"Joseph." Ben said sternly, looking at Joe.

"I'd like that, Adam." Abbie said, disregarding Joe's comment. After breakfast, Adam and Abigail walked out to the barn. Adam led her over to a white horse.

"Abbie, we're going to let you have this horse. It's yours once you learn to ride it." he said.

"What? Why would you be giving me a horse?" she asked.

"Well, you'll need a horse. Just consider it a gift from my family and me." Adam said.

"That's an expensive gift." Abbie said.

"We can afford it." Adam said, smiling.

"Well then, thank you." Abbie said. Abbie followed Adam as he saddled up the horse and led it out into an open area.

"Now, since it's your first time getting up onto a horse, let me help you." Adam said. Abbie nodded. He put his hands on her waist to steady her. They stood, staring at each other for a moment.

"Adam, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, Abbie. I'm fine." he said.

"Adam," Abigail said, "If the man my father wanted me to marry was like you, I wouldn't have refused." Adam stared at her for a moment more, and then kissed her. Then, he suddenly pulled away.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't... appropriate. We've only known each other for a couple of days." he said.

"No, it's alright, Adam." she said, smiling at him, "I liked it."

"Oh. You did?" he said, "Well, then, in that case..." He smiled and leaned in, kissing her again. They stopped kissing when they heard someone walking up behind them.

It was Little Joe and Hoss. Little Joe was laughing quietly to himself.

"You two got to know each other pretty fast. That must be some riding lesson, Adam." Joe said.

"Joe, you could try acting your age for once." Adam said before Joe and Hoss walked away.

"I'm sorry about my brother. He can be an idiot sometimes, well, a lot of times, actually." Adam said.

"It's alright." Abbie said, laughing. After a while longer, they put the horses in the barn and headed back to the house for dinner.

"There you two are. You late for dinner." Hop Sing said when they walked in, "Hop Sing think he have to throw away your food! Waste of good food! No respect!"

"Now, Hop Sing, nobody is going to be throwing away food. They're here, aren't they?" Ben said.

"Hop Sing, calm down. Just go on back to the kitchen and bring us out another plate of food, will you?" Hoss said. Hop Sing threw his arms in the air and walked back to the kitchen. Hoss just grinned, and Joe and Libby laughed. Adam and Abbie laughed slightly, too, as they sat down at the table, Adam pulling Abbie's chair out for her before she sat down.

"Thank you, Adam. You're such a gentleman." Abbie said.

Adam just smiled. Ben smiled as he watched his oldest son.

"So, Miss Abbie, how'd your lesson go?" Hoss asked.

"Well, I think I'm doing pretty well. But, you'd have to ask Adam. He's the one teaching me." Abbie said.

"Abbie is doing very well. She's intelligent, so she's learning quickly." Adam said, smiling.

"Adam, please, we're trying to eat here." Joe commented, grinning, until Hoss elbowed him.

"Ouch!" Joe said. Ben looked suspiciously at his two younger sons.

"This house is really nice." Abbie said.

"Well, Adam designed and built this house." Ben said.

"Really?" Abbie said.

"I studied architecture." Adam said.

"Really? How impressive." Abbie said.

()just a quick fun fact, Abbie's horse's name is Magic

After a couple weeks, Abbie got to be pretty helpful to have around on the ranch. She already knew how to use a gun because her father had liked to hunt, and taught her how to use a gun when she was very young. One evening, after she had been living on the Ponderosa with the Cartwrights for about a month, Abbie was standing on the porch, admiring the landscape at night when Adam walked out of the house. He was dressed in dress clothes, not just the average clothing that he normally wore.

"Good evening, Adam." she said.

"Good evening, Abbie. I have two tickets for a show at the theater. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." he said.

"Yes, Adam, of course I'd love to. Just give me a minute to go get ready." she said before running off to her room to get ready. She came back out with her hair put up, wearing the nicest dress she owned. Adam stared at her for a moment.

"What? Do I look bad?" she asked.

"Bad? That's certainly not the word I would use. I would say the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Adam said.

"Are you saying I don't look pretty any other time?" Abbie said, grinning.

"You always look like the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Adam said, smiling as he placed a hand gently on her cheek. They saddled up their horses and rode into Virginia City. After the show, they left the theater, and started walking back to where they had tied their horses.

"Stay close to me, Abbie." Adam said. There were many low-lifes in Virginia City, and, though the Cartwrights had a few friends in Virginia City, they had many more enemies there. Adam wanted to make sure Abbie was safe as they walked through the city at night. Abbie held hands with him. When they got back to the Ponderosa, they put the horses up in the barn for the night, then began walking back to the house.

"Abbie, I have something I want to ask you." Adam said.

"Okay, Adam. You can ask me anything." Abbie said.

"I want to tell you, I've never met any woman like you." he said, getting down on one knee, and pulling something from the pocket of his pants and holding it up so Abbie could see it, "Abbie, will you please become Mrs. Adam Cartwright? Will you marry me?" The ring was. nice, not extremely fancy, but it had a decent sized diamond. It looked like it would have cost a decent amount of money, not that it mattered. She would have been satisfied with something small and plain, as long as of was from Adam.

"Yes, of course, Adam. I would love to marry you!" she said. Adam smiled, standing and putting the ring on her finger. Abbie threw herself into his arms and he hugged her tightly.

"What in the Sam Hill is goin' on out here?"

They looked over to see Hoss walking over to them.

"Hoss, go get pa and the others." Adam said, smiling, "We have something we need to tell you."

"Alright." Hoss said, going inside and walking back out a moment later with Ben, Joe, and Libby following him.

"Pa, I just asked Abbie to marry me." Adam said.

"And I said yes." Abbie said.

"We're engaged." Adam said.

"Adam, congratulations!" Ben said, hugging his oldest son, then hugging Abbie, "Congratulations, Abbie."

"Congratulations, older brother." Joe said, patting his oldest brother on the back, then, shaking Abbie's hand, "Congratulations, ma'am. Just remember, you have to put up with him for the rest of your life now. Don't say we didn't give you time to run." Abbie laughed.

"Congratulations to the both of you." Hoss said, patting his older brother on the back, then shaking Abbie's hand.

"Congratulations, Adam." Libby said, hugging him. In her time there, she had come to idolize Adam like one would an older brother. Then, she shook Abbie's hand and said, "Congratulations, Abbie."

One day, Ben, Hoss, Adam, Joe, Libby, and Abbie were riding around the land of the Ponderosa. This was something the Cartwrights did on a regular basis to watch for strangers that might be on their land, causing problems. Libby and Abbie, now being practically part of the family, had taken to joining them on these rides.

"Hey, pa." Hoss said, pointing, "What's that over there?" The others looked in the direction that Hoss was pointing. Off, in the distance, they saw something laying on the ground. They were too far away to tell what it was. They could just see that there was something laying there.

"That's a good question, son. Let's go over and find out." Ben said. Once they got close enough, they could see that it was a young woman with blond, curly hair.

"Just what we need. If this girl is found dead on the Ponderosa, imagine the trouble everyone is going to give us. The whole town will be after us." Libby said.

"Where could she have come from?" Abbie said. Hoss and Ben got down off of their horses. Ben checked the girl for a pulse.

"She's alive." Ben said. Hoss lifted her up and layed her gently across his horse, then he and Ben got up onto their horses. They all rode back to the house, and told Hop Sing to clean her up, get her into one of the guest rooms, and get a doctor to come and check her over. Then, they sat in the living area, trying to figure the whole thing out.

"What was she even doing here?" Adam asked.

"I don't know, Adam. Why don't you go ask her." Joe commented. Adam glared.

"Who is she?" Hoss said.

"I don't know. I guess none of us will find out anything until she wakes up." Ben said.

She woke up to find herself in a strange place, in a room that didn't look the least bit familiar. She looked around the room, noticing a man that she had never seen before. She sat up quickly, afraid.

"Hey, woah, woah. Don't be scared. Nobody's gonna hurt you here." the man said, standing and putting his hand out in a non threatening manner. She realized the conditions she was in and realized that she must have been rescued rather than taken captive. She calmed slightly, though still a little nervous.

"My name's Hoss Cartwright." the man said, "Me and my pa and brothers found you out cold on our land. You're on the Ponderosa, our ranch." She looked at the man, Hoss, for a moment. He was a big guy, tall and husky, but he sure seemed gentle.

"My name is Sarah Collins." she finally said.

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am." Hoss said.

"Same here." Sarah said.

"How do you feel?" Hoss asked.

"Tired. But, I feel alright." she said.

"How'd you end up here, anyways?" Hoss asked. She hesitated, but she knew she had to tell him. He and his family had obviously saved her. She owed them answers.

"My parents and I were coming to Virginia City. My father wanted to do some prospecting. But, on the way, some theives robbed our wagon of everything we had, and killed my parents. Before she died, my mother managed to yell for me to run, so I did. It was a cowardly thing to do, I know. I should have tried to help them, but all I could think of was getting away." she said, hanging her head.

"Ma'am, there was nothing you could have done for your parents. If you hadn't ran, you'd prob'ly be dead. too. You did nothing wrong by running." Hoss said. She looked up again, smiling slightly.

"Thank you, Hoss. And, please, just Sarah." she said.

"Well, Miss Sarah, you prob'ly saved your own life by running. And there'd have been no sense in you bein' killed, too. Not that there's any sense in what happened. I'm sorry about your parents." Hoss said.

"Thank you." she said. Just then, in the doorway came two people, a young man,with dark, wavy hair and dark grey eyes, and a young woman with long, dark, wavy hair and dark eyes.

"Hey, Hoss, pa wants to talk..." the dark haired young man started to say, but stopped, surprised to see that Sarah was awake.

"How long has she been awake?" the dark haired young woman asked.

"Only about a couple minutes." Hoss said. Then, he introduced Sarah to the young man and woman, "Sarah, this is my brother, Little Joe, and his fiance, Elizabeth."

"My name is Sarah Collins. Pleased to meet you both." Sarah said.

"A pleasure." the young man, Little Joe, said.

"Nice to meet you." the young woman, Elizabeth, or Libby, for short, said.

"Hoss, pa wants you to come talk to him." Joe said.

"Alright, Joe." Hoss said, standing, then, before leaving the room, he said to Sarah, "Why don't you come out and meet my pa and the others when you're ready to."

"Alright." she said. After a few moments, she followed behind Hoss out into the sitting room. Hoss was there, talking to an older man with gray hair, who Sarah presumed to be the boys' father. Joe and Libby were there, too. And, sitting in a chair, there was another man, a thin, dark haired man with light grey eyes. Standing beside the chair he was sitting in was a blond haired woman with blue eyes. They all stopped to look at Sarah when she walked into the room.

"Well, look who's awake. How are you feeling?" the gray haired man said.

"I'm feeling well, thank you, sir." Sarah said. Hoss walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her closer to the group.

"Come on, Sarah. They ain't gonna hurt you none." he said softly. Sarah extended her hand to the gray haired man.

"I'm Sarah Collins." she said.

"Ben Cartwright." the older man, Ben, said, smiling as he shook hands with her.

"Thank you for rescuing me, Mr. Cartwright." Sarah said.

"Don't mention it." Ben said, "We couldn't just leave you there." Then, Hoss gestured towards the dark haired man sitting in the chair and the blond woman standing beside him.

"Sarah," he said, "this is my other brother, Adam, and his fiance, Abigail."

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am." the dark haired man, Adam, said.

"It's good to meet you." said the blond woman, Abigail, or Abbie.

"It's good to meet all of you, too. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." Sarah said.

"Don't worry. The Ponderosa has seen much more trouble than you." Ben said.

"The Ponderosa." Sarah said. She remembered Hoss mentioning before that that was where they were.

"Yes. It's the ranch my boys and I own." Ben said.

"How did you get here?" Adam asked.

"My parents and I were trying to go to Virginia City by wagon. My father was a doctor, but he wanted to try prospecting. Well, along the way, some thieves robbed us of everything we owned and killed my parents. Before she died, my mother managed to yell for me to run, so I did. I know it was probably cowardly, but I was scared. I wish I would have stayed and tried to help my parents, but I didn't. I just ran and ran. It was dark and I had no idea where I was going. I just kept running, and that's all I remember before waking up here." she said.

"Sarah, I'm sorry about your parents. But, listen to me, you did all you could have done. If you hadn't run, then you would probably be dead with your parents, and that wouldn't have made them any happier." Ben said. She smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Mr. Cartwright." she said.

"Just Ben. And, you're welcome. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to. That room is yours as long as you want it. Our cook, Hop Sing, is fixing some breakfast if you'd like to join us." Ben said. Sarah nodded.

"Alright. Thank you, Ben." she said. Over the next few weeks, Hoss and Sarah went fishing together, Hoss taught her how to ride a horse, and let her have one of the horses there at the Ponderosa, a light beige horse with a stripe down the front of it's head. Sarah also helped out around the ranch, and she and Hoss got to be very close, eventually romantically. Hoss had loved a woman once before, and it broke his heart when she died. He never thought he could feel that way again until he met Sarah.

()just a quick fun fact, Sarah's horse's name is Ava

THE END


End file.
